Organ



(.No Mode.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

A. BIRKELAND.

ORGAN.

No. 393,686. Patented Nov. 27, 1888.

A @QJ/M (No Model.) 2 'sheets-sheet 2.A

` A. BIRKBLAND.

ORG-AN. Y

No. 898,888. Patented Nov. 27, 1888..

N. PETERS. Phuwumogrzpher. wnhingw; n. 1:.

UNITED STATES PATENT ARIAN BIRKELAND, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORKIA.

ORGAN.

SPECIPICATIONOforming part of Letters Patent No. 393.686, dated November 27,1888.

Application filed June 4, 1837.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARIAN BIRKELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacra` mento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Organs, of which the following` is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in self-playing organs, and has for its object certain improvements in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate what I consider the best means for carrying my in vention into practice.

Figure lis a rear elevation of the organ with the rear cover removed and part of the frame broken away at the bottom to show the parts inside, together with a view of the motive power and means for starting and stop ping same and for automatically controlling its speed. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the reed-board, taken near one end. Fig. 3 is an end view ofthe devices employed for automatically operating certain outside base-pipes and also the mutes and swells of the reeds, these parts being located at the end of the reed-board. Fig. 4 is an end view of the organ with the case removed. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a portion ofthe reedboard, taken from the rear thereof. Fig. 6 is a de` tail view of a portion of the frame in which one of the guide-rollers of the mnsic-belt is held.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they occur.

A is the frame of the organ, in which the sound-producing devices are mounted.

o is the music-belt, which is formed of strong goods st-rengthened on both edges, as shown in Fig. The belt is perforated with a series of openings and slits representing the notes composing the tune to be performed, and is carried in the case or frame A by means of rollers i', which are rubber-covered, and are placed as shown or in some other convenient position in the frame to carry a great length of belt, so that the same belt will afford space for a great number of tunes or pieces of music. One of the rollers r is made removable by Serial No. 240,321. (No model.)

having one end supported in a spring, rv, which can be withdrawn when it is desired to removetheroller. This construetionisshown in Figs. land 6. A removable brace, e, is employed in the center of the frame or case to hold the same together, and to be removed with the removable roller r when the belt is t0 be taken out and changed for another with different tunes or pieces of music upon it.

At the top or other convenient position in the frame is mounted a swinging frame, w, with a roller in it, which rests upon the belt o, as shown, to take up the slack and keep the belt properly taut. The frame may be counterbalanced by a cord and weight, as shown at w', so that the tension upon the belt can be regulated by increasing or diminishing the weight.

rllhe belt is caused to travel by being passed through or between and impelled by two power-driven rubber rollers, Z Z, which move by frictional contact with rubber pulleys to avoid noise, as will be hereinafter more spe citically described. rihe belt o is drawn by these rollers under the reedboard, the end of which is marked gin Fig.1,and the note-openings in the belt o caused to register with the Openings in the reed-board. This reed-board is supplied both with reeds and pipes, as seen in the drawings, and cach note has a separate compartment in the reed-board, as shown by the partitions g in Fig.

The recd-board is hinged or pivoted to the ends q by means of a rod, y, which is secured to the lforward lower edge of the reedboard and permits the reed'board to be swung or turned upward and upset to give access to its under side. By means of this pivot g/ the reed-board can be also readily removed by slipping the pivot out of engagement with the ends.

The reed-board is equipped with a slidestop, r, operated in the usual manner, which lies between the compartments in the reedboard and the reeds or pipes above.

At the end of the reed-board are arranged a series of fingers, s, which are pivoted upon a shaft, a, and held between rings t ou said shaft, the points of which fingers project down into the path ofthe music-belt, and are engaged by openings therein provided for this purpose. The upper ends of the fingers are IOO connected by means of strings, as shown, or otherwise, with a set of base-pipes, (not shown,)

which are operated by the movement of the fingers.

The mutes and swells X of the reeds are also operated in the same manner as the fingers s, as will be seen in Figs. 3and 5.

The wind-chest p is located beneath the 1eed-board,and the bellows p p lie andare operated beneath the wind-chest.

From the wind-chest or from the bellows extends a flexible air-tight hose, R, to the outside basepipes, which the movement of fingers s controls, whereby the said basepipes are I5 properly supplied with air and are ready to produce sound whenever the finger or fingers are operated.

The bellows are operated from a crank-shaft,

a, as shown in Fig. 4, which shaft in turn is 2o operated by frictional pulley or gear n, which is operated from a similar pulley or gear, m, on a power-shaft, on which the belt-pulley K is placed. All the gears are rubber-covered to avoid noise and at the same time to secure a drawing friction which insures steady motion. The pulley K is driven by a belt, j, from a pulley, i', mounted on shaft with pulley t', which receives motion from the motive power through belt h. The said motive power con- 37 sists of a water-wheel composed of three shells or plates of metal, the two outer ones forming a case and being fixed and provided with an exit or discharge passage, e. The center plate, A', forms the water-wheel proper, and is provided with spoon-shaped buckets b on the edge thereof. This plato A is fast upon the shaft and revolves with it. The shaft is mounted in boxes set upon a frame, c.

Water is supplied to the wheel through pipe 4o d, of suitable diameter to supply the wheel. The pipe is provided with a gate, g, which is equipped with a weighted lever, g', to which a cord or other connection is attached, as shown at gx, which is carried over suitable pulleys to any desired point of the house or other building, so that the water may be put on the wheel at any time from said distant or :near point, according to the arrangement of the string or cord, and when the string is released the weighted lever automatically closes the gate g and stops the instrument; or, if desired, the weighted lever may be employed to open the gate and a draw upon the string to close it.

Between the valve or gate g and the wheel A is placed another gate'or valve, f, provided with a weighted lever, f', similar to g', and provided with a cord or string or other connection, f X, which is attached to the bellows of the organ in such manner that when the bellows gets too full of wind the effect will be to check off the water.

It is evident that other arrangements and construction of valves and connections can be made without impairing the result, and that some other form of water-wheel may be used.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. In an organ, the combination of an endless traveling music-belt and a separable or yielding case with a removable brace, z, for holding the case together, and a removable belt-roller having a spring-journal at one end lwhich is movable, as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. rIhe combination, with the traveling music-belt, of a shaft, a, and the fingers s, pivoted on said shaft for operating the base-pipes, as set forth.

3. In an organ of the kind described, the combination, with the endless perforated music-belt, of a reed-board mounted thereon, a shaft, u, having rings t, andthe fingers s, pivoted on said shaft for operating the base-pipes.

4. In an organ of the kind described, the combination, with the endless perforated mu' sic-belt o, of a reed-board pivoted at its forward lower edge to rest upon or overy the belt when in position for operation, the fingers s at the end of thercedboard, shaft upon which they are mounted, and niutes and swells X, the fingers and mutes and swells being operated by the belt, as set forth.

5. In an organ of the kind described, the combination, with a music belt, of a reed-board having separate compartments, as described, a slide-stop, as o, and a shaft, a, having the rings t, and fingers s, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

y ARIAN BIRKELAND. y Witnesses:

M; WM. Mii'rsoN, GHARLns VANINA. 

